Family Camp 2012

The six of us went on a 13 hour road trip to Oregon during the first week in August to spend time with my aunts, my sister, and their families.  We divided the long drive in half by staying a night at a Best Western Inn in Boise, Idaho, which was very nice after a long car ride with the kids.  We had a large family suite this time, with four beds and a crib.  We enjoyed swimming in the hotel's indoor pool and watching the Olympics.

I ended up catching a cold while we stayed in Boise, so I was feeling rather poorly by the time we reached my aunts' house in Wilsonville.  It was so darling seeing all of the little children together!  Binny, Lizzy, David, and Eric looked so adorable playing together in the family room.  Binny had lots of neat toys to play with, and Lizzy took a fancy to them right away.  She and Binny had a sword fight with pirate swords in Binny's large toy boat.

We enjoyed many fun family activities while we were in Oregon.  We played some soccer in the backyard with the little ones chasing after balls.  We did some shopping at our usual fun places:  the Lego Store and Powell's book store.  Lizzy, Binny, and Eric enjoyed riding the little Merry-Go-Round inside the mall.  The weather was unusually hot for Oregon, so we took advantage of that by having some water-play.  Aunt Laurie filled a little wading pool with water and placed it outside on the deck.  The kids had a great time splashing and playing with water toys.  We, of course, went to Cannon Beach as well.  We love going to Cannon Beach!  We had a very enjoyable day window shopping at all of the cute little tourist shops before we headed down to the water.  Scott and Lizzy liked playing in the sand the most, Emma went hunting for seashells, and David thoroughly enjoyed crawling into the ocean-- he LOVED the water!  Binny and Eric had a wonderful time playing on the beach, too.  Binny threw a big fit when we had to leave.  He spread out his arms toward the waves and shouted, "No!" as Laurie pulled against his baby harness.  At the end of our stay in Oregon, we went to a nearby park and enjoyed some more water-play.  Lizzy and Binny had lots of fun playing in the water fountains together.  David thought getting wet again was great!

I love capturing these moments with photos.  Here are my favorites:

  

  

  

  

  

  

R.I.P Dell

It is a sad, sad day.  Last night, at approximately 6:00 pm, our beloved Dell desktop computer shut down for the very last time.   This unfortunate event was sudden and unexpected.  We shall miss our Dell computer.  We are not looking forward to replacing it and moving onto another model.

I currently do not have access to my pictures and documents saved on the desktop.  Brad says these things will be recovered once we get the files transferred onto a new computer, but until then I will not be able to post all of my vacation photos or work on my monthly newsletter as I would like.  I am hopeful we will have a new computer up and running shortly.  So long, Dell!

Highlight of My Day: July 2012

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in July 2012:

Sun 7/1/12: I loved spending Sunday afternoon lounging on the couch with my husband's head in my lap while watching Mormon Messages on YouTube. Makes me want to smile and say, "I'm a wife, homemaker, and stay-at-home mother. My name is Rebecca North, and I'm a Mormon."

Mon 7/2/12: David is crawling on his knees! He also claps his hands and can sit himself up without help. He is getting so big!

Tue 7/3/12: I bought some ingredients at Harmons for the 4th of July BBQ. I'll be making firecracker cookies and a red, white, and blue salad (strawberries, blueberries, and feta cheese).

Wed 7/4/12: We had a fabulous 4th of July! We went to our ward's pancake breakfast at the park. Lizzy got to go on the swings, wait in line for a horsey balloon, and ride the train. She loved that! We went to Marian's house in the afternoon and had a swimming party. It was fun visiting with Chris & Nick, Bob & Nadine, and Matt and Jenny's family. Brad and I played Nerts with Marian in the evening. Lizzy loved looking at the fireworks on the way home.

Thu 7/5/12: There's nothing quite like home-grown California lemons when you have a sore throat and cough. I'm so glad I grabbed a few from our vacation! I love fresh lemon juice with honey.

Fri 7/6/12: It was nice having the older kids come home today! I loved Emma's company in the kitchen. She helped me get done a couple of loads of dishes.

Sat 7/7/12: One of the good things about getting sick is that it gives me an excuse for watching chick flicks. I enjoyed watching "Sabrina" this morning, with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond.

Sun 7/8/12: Brad and I gave our talks in our new ward today. I'm grateful I didn't have a coughing fit on my turn. That was my biggest fear. I think I did a good job considering how crummy I was feeling.

Mon 7/9/12: We went to the pet store for FHE tonight. Lizzy's favorite animals were the hamsters and the reptiles. I really liked the agouti Berkshire dumbo rat the best. I like rats.

Tue 7/10/12: Brad and I took Lizzy and David to the Days of '47 Horse Parade in Sandy. Lizzy wore her pink cowgirl hat. She loved seeing all the horses, but did not like seeing the horse manure in the street. Brad and I got a kick out of her reaction to the poop. She was quite disturbed.

Wed 7/11/12: Little D can climb the stairs! He showed off to his papa yesterday, and today he did it some more. His large motor skills are developing fast.

Thu 7/12/12: I felt well enough to get done some cleaning today. The nursery looks a lot better now. It's always very satisfying to gather clothes to send to the DI. I like the thought of my house becoming less cluttered.

Fri 7/13/12: My living room if finally starting to look the way I want it to look! Brad put up the last bookshelf tonight and we got start putting away DVDs. It's looking good!

Sat 7/14/12: We accomplished so much today! Our house is turning more and more into our home. We also went over to Brad's dad's house this afternoon and did a final clean-up.

Sun 7/15/12: I enjoyed crocheting Emma's Nyan Cat hat today, and I started on Scott's Inspector Capanela scarf. Let's see how many crochet projects I can get done by the end of summer!

Mon 7/16/12: We have family photos hanging up on our living room wall!

Tue 7/17/12: I enjoyed my ward's Relief Society cultural night tonight. This has been my second Relief Society activity since we moved in, and I've been impressed both times.

Wed 7/18/12: I enjoyed eating ice cream and watching the show "Merlin" with Bradley tonight. I love movie nights with my husband.

Thu 7/19/12: Brad and I went to see the Broadway musical WICKED tonight at the Capitol Theater. We enjoyed it immensely.

Fri 7/20/12: Little David mastered stair climbing today! He made it all the way to the top of the staircase by himself. He has become a busy little boy.

Sat 7/21/12: Scott came back from camping in Flaming Gorge with the Scouts. It was nice having my whole family home again. I love Scott and Emma.

Sun 7/22/12: I got through my first day teaching in Primary. It was a little overwhelming for me, teaching the 3 and 4-year-olds, but it was enjoyable, too. My highlight of the day was relaxing with Brad on the couch after church and watching The Fellowship of the Ring. I love my husband. He makes me so happy!

Mon 7/23/12: Emma and I made a whole bunch of freshly squeezed orange juice today. We must have squeezed over 20 oranges! It was YUM!

Tue 7/24/12: Pioneer Day was a blast, as usual! We enjoyed spending time at the Harman's house: visiting with Ann and Dean, going swimming, playing Catch Phrase, eating yummy food, and spending time together. Brad, the kids, and I enjoyed doing fireworks at our house in the evening.

Wed 7/25/12: Lizzy liked going to our new neighborhood library tonight. It was her first time. She grabbed a bunch of "B" titled DVDs to watch at home. She picked two Barbie movies, Bambi, and a Barney movie.

Thu 7/26/12: I cut Bradley's hair tonight. I like being his barber.

Fri 7/27/12: Scott got his braces off today! He has a lovely new smile.

Sat 7/28/12: Brad fixed the dishwasher today! YAY!

Sun 7/29/12: I really enjoyed teaching my primary class today. They are such sweet children. I love their different personalities and learning more about them.

Mon 7/30/12: We watched "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" for Family Home Evening. It was Emma's first time seeing it all the way through. It's one of my favorites out of the Harry Potter movies.

Tue 7/31/12:   Emma and I went to Activity Days tonight.  We made family trees together.  Afterward, we went home and continued packing for our upcoming trip to Oregon.  We're excited!